Research Activities

Activity Group1

Movement of People, Socio-cultural Changes, and Conflict Resolution

Activity Group1

2011/12/12

“Movement of People, Socio-cultural Changes, and Conflict Resolution”

Date: December 3, 2011 10:00-12:30

Venue: Shohukan Room 301, Omiya Campus, Ryukoku University

At the second research seminar of Group 1, held on December 3, 2011, Ms. Nobuko Mitsuda (Shiga Intercultural Association for Globalization) and Dr. Chizuko Sato (Institute of Developing Economies) presented their research findings.

Ms. Mitsuda reported the current situation of foreigners living in Shiga prefecture. As of 2010, there were approximately 26,000 foreigners living in Shiga. According to Ms. Mitsuda, while the main issue of consultation from foreign residents had previously been labour conditions, that has been shifting recently to education, medical care and welfare benefits; accordingly, the issues of translation and interpretation are becoming more and more important. With regard to education, while the local government of Shiga has been working to increase Japanese language instruction and lifestyle guidance at schools, there is still a difference in level of multicultural education among schools. In fact, the drop-out rate among foreign students is high; thus, there is need for further support at the local level, including career guidance for foreign students. Ms. Mitsuda emphasised that it is essential for multicultural society to have concrete understanding of various problems confronting foreign residents, such as the lack of care for pregnant women, and difficulties of social adaptation.

Dr. Sato investigated, in the cases of the Philippines, South Africa and Ghana, the increase in international migration of nurses since the late 1990s, and its impact on society and the policy of the sending countries. In the Philippines, according to Dr. Sato, the number of nursing schools has increased rapidly as more and more nurses go overseas. However, deterioration of the world economy since 2005 has made it difficult for new graduates to go abroad, resulting in an excess supply of nurses in urban areas and a shortage in rural areas. The outflow of nurses has decreased since 2005 also in South Africa and Ghana, as a result of increases in healthcare cost and salaries, political responses, such as encouraging emigrants to return home, and the improvement of welfare systems. The international migration of nurses is essentially unstable, Dr. Sato said, and there are many questions to investigate, including the de-skilling of nurses working as care-workers in the host countries, and the issue of international compensation for the loss of human resources in the sending countries.